Tottenham Hotspur picked up a huge win on Wednesday night in the Second Round of the League Cup, dominating Charlton Athletic with a 5-1 victory. There were so many tremendous individual performances, with Mikey Moore proving decisive in the starting lineup and Savio doing the same off the bench in an incredible debut.
But the attackers were not the only ones to shine. Mateus Fernandes continues to earn rave reviews as he begins life at N17, with the 22 year old standing out as one of the best midfielders in English football once again, just as he was last season for rivals West Ham.
His excellence should not overshadow, however, some more quality work from Rodrigo Bentancur. Conor Gallagher received attention for improving his performances under Roberto De Zerbi at the end of the 2025/26 Premier League season during the relegation fight, but Gallagher was atrocious on Matchday 1.
Rodrigo Bentancur is still an important player to Tottenham
Meanwhile, Bentancur was even better than Gallagher during the relegation battle and actually played very well against Brentford, coming into the game in the second half and outshining new 100 million pound signing Sandro Tonali to help solidify a bleeding Tottenham Hotspur side.
Bentancur was great again vs. Charlton Athletic, to no surprise, dominating the inferior opposition as he and Fernandes picked them apart and ruled the middle of the park. De Zerbi has been getting the most out of Bentancur, who started his Juventus career promisingly before fizzling out and almost seemed to be falling into that same trap at N17 during the 2025/26 season before the Italian manager's arrival.
Tottenham have had so many troubles over the years with exerting control over games at the top end of th Premier League table. Briefly, Rodrigo Bentancur was giving Spurs hope they would be able to do that, and now he is back on that radar again.
There have been a large number of Spurs fans who have always believed in Bentancur as a top midfielder for the team, even when he was struggling, such as last season. And they can feel vindicated so far to start the season with Benta playing well on a bad day for Spurs and then playing better on a great day for the club against Charlton Athletic.
In their best XI with everyone healthy, Bentancur is not a starter. But right now, Tottenham can't play their best XI. And right now, Spurs is clearly one of their best options. He will remain important to Roberto De Zerbi in 2026/27.
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